What A Pair: Voice Recognition & Content Marketing

It seems as though more and more you see individuals using voice recognition to get the results they are looking for. Today it is a whole lot of “Siri, how do I get here?” “Siri, find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe?” But, what does this change in search mean for content marketing?

First off, people really are using voice recognition more than you think. Most of the people in my family aren’t the most tech savvy and do not even own smart phones, but none the less this is fact about usage is accurate. You can see the stats below for yourself.

“More than half of teenagers and 40 percent of adults have performed voice search at least once a day.” – Simon Brisk of Click Intelligence on SteamFeed. Read more.

“55 percent of teens (13-18) use voice search every day whereas fifty-six percent of adults said using voice search made them feel “tech-savvy.” – Google. Read more.

I know I have been using this technology more and more frequently. The reasoning is because it is easier. Sometimes I do not have my hands free or want to type in some long phrase to find a simple answer. But, when I speak to my voice recognition service, I don’t phrase my searches the same way I would be typing them into a search engine. As you will find in the articles I outlined below, there is a general consensus that voice searches use question based phrases, which makes perfect sense because we ask the questions aloud to our devices.

After reading up on several articles about voice recognition breakthroughs, I found that there are some central takeaways.

The articles listed above gave the advice to meld SEO tactics and common voice search phrases. Knowing how users phrase their inquiries as questions, means that for the best SEO results content marketers need to slide SEO terms into these popular question based phrases.

This tactic allows the best of both worlds with increased SEO and optimal voice recognition results. The content marketers that can best accommodate voice recognition will really excel with the growing tech savvy generations.

Another helpful tip for content marketers looking to land high on search results is making sure basic information is readily available. If you think about it, many times when we ask Siri to find something for us it is usually a more simple result like an address, business hours, or an organization’s website. To make sure your basic information is readily available create a Google My Business page that has all the vital information from website to hours of operation. This will ensure that when searchers look for common information, you have a prompt result for them.

The best approach is to place yourself in the shoes of voice recognition users. Think of what questions they may ask about your organization or about your content or subject. If you can tailor your information to align with users’ questions, the results will be greatly beneficial for both your organization and the ease of use for voice searchers. The fact is that voice search is not going anywhere as we multitask more and more, so take the time to make your content voice friendly.